Thursday, June 10, 2010

Changing Obsessions

My life was overrun by Dinosaurs. They were everywhere. Plastic dinosaurs underfoot, the bookshelves filled with dinosaur books, and it seemed the only conversation within these four walls was about dinosaurs. Heaven help me if I said something wrong- if I didn't know my T-Rex from my brontosaurus.

I only used T-Rex and brontosaurus as examples there because I don't remember any others. The dinosaur era ended, and I promptly forgot it. Dreamer probably still remembers each and every one.

We did Pokemon. How many are there? Over two hundred, and they all bloody well evolve so you have to remember multiple names and who evolves into which.

The Legend of Zelda game. I blame that one for Dreamer's long hair. He wanted a long floppy fringe like Link, and during the growing process got out of the habit of haircuts and hasn't been able to get back into it. It was alright though, because by the time the Lord of the Rings obsession arrived, his hair looked just like Legolas'.

Shiny things. That one was more of a collection, and they also doubled as fiddle toys. Pockets full. At least my memory circuits were spared during this phase - all I had to do was provide shoeboxes, and remember to always empty his pockets before doing the laundry.

Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

Runescape.

Dragons.

Mediaeval period. During his mediaeval period, Dreamer learnt archery and tried hawking. We never got around to the horse riding.

Now we have anime and manga and zombies.

The odd thing is that once you get to these more adult interests, there are actually a surprising number of people out there in the world who share them. Put a few in a room, and yes, they're talking another language but they share it. They even hold conventions where they gather in their thousands.

They sure aren't the 'normal' Australian interests - going to the footy, and hotting up the Commodore- and it would have you labeled weird to talk about the latest in anime around the water-cooler while the blokes are discussing this week's footy tips.

Hang on. In depth discussions of Japanese film techniques vs. discussions of the on-field punch ups at the football?

I am more than thrilled about Dreamer's choice of interests.

Oh, and Pokemon is back. Apparently, it's a cool retro thing for teens, although I suspect we're only talking geeky teens here. At least by, now he's learnt not to expect Mum to know or care about Pokemon evolution.

8 comments:

How this for irony. My eldest is just a nerd and loved Pokemon from the start. We have every single DS game from yellow to ruby yadda yadda. I know all about Charmander, Jigglypuff and Squirtle.I end up with an Aspy, so I introduced him thinking his eyes would go round like pinwheels and we could talk evolving and pokeballs until the cows came home.

sadly and worryingly it's fricken weapons. I try to keep it to the lightsabre and 'the force'. It's his birthday on Saturday and he asked for "beados" - you know those tiny bead things you made into a picture? - so I ran to the shops like a bat out of hell to get some. Anything but more weapons.....

Our obsessions are MLB Baseball cards, Ebay, electronics (specifically Ipods, sound systems, TVS), and Legos (although this one was tapering off). I get asked LOTS of questions about baseball players, baseball cards, and card values. I DON'T really LIKE baseball, so this is a little painful.

Our obsession at the moment is football..and football and football..with occasional lego thrown in. He knows the players names, he has memorized his hundred or so footy cards and he watches whatever game the t.v offers him. He knows where Etihad and MCG stadiums are in the city and can tell you the exact spot he sat at Etihad during the one match he has ever attended. I don't think Auskick is living up to his expectations though atm and am hoping he at least returns next week. Obsessions are fun right? :p